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Boaty McBoatface to set out on maiden Antarctic voyage
How the SA energy announcement might affect the rest of the country
South Australia to spend $500 million on securing state energy supply
Tasmanian bill to extend wilderness logging sparks federal intervention call
The bill ‘spells doom’ for species including Tasmanian devil, wedge-tailed eagle and swift parrot, says Bob Brown
A proposal to allow logging access to more parts of Tasmania’s wilderness has sparked calls for federal government intervention.
Related: Speaking for the trees: hope, despair, and regrowth in Tasmania's charred wilderness |
Continue reading...South Australia's $550m energy plan – video explainer
The South Australian government has announced it will intervene in the national energy market in a $550m plan that seeks to tame the state’s turbulent power supply and prices. The premier, Jay Weatherill, says his government will build a gas-fired power station and Australia’s largest battery storage unit
Continue reading...'Spinning sail' rebooted to cut fuel and make ocean tankers greener
Century-old rotating columns fixed to ship’s deck interact with wind to provide forward thrust and could make 10% fuel saving
An ocean-going tanker is to be fitted with a type of “spinning sail” invented almost a century ago in a step that could lead to more environmentally friendly tankers worldwide.
The unusual sails are rotating columns fixed to the deck of the ship, whose interaction with the wind provides forward thrust. The trial is backed by Maersk, one of the world’s biggest shipping companies and Shell’s shipping arm.
Continue reading...Queensland East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery - Agency application 2017
Queensland East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery - Agency application 2017
A sudden threat scatters the downland birds
Wepham Down, West Sussex The hen harrier raises its wings as air brakes, using the wind to lift, stall and loop backwards
A skylark rises up in loud, breathless song, claiming its breeding territory. The bird hovers with vibrating wings, unmoved by the strong gusts of wind. It climbs into the air in steps, each new phrase propelling it further up into the sky, until I can no longer see it. Another skylark answers in the distance.
Fieldfares hop across the grass – they’ll be moving on, returning to northern Scandinavia to breed, within days. Black and white lapwing patrol a bare patch of soil. They feed in quick down-up motions, as if bowing to each other. This large flock will also soon disperse, many returning to the continent, but some will stay here to nest.
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